Economy Tops Agenda for Religious Voters

Four years ago, the war in Iraq and the same-sex marriage debate pushed foreign policy and social issues to the top of the priority list for nearly all religious voters.

Now, those issues have taken a back seat to something more pressing: the economy.

A survey released yesterday by the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron shows that support for the war has dropped dramatically among religious voters. At the same time, they have been hit by the effects of a bad economy.

So just more than half of the people surveyed put economy at the top of their list of priorities for the election, far more than the 11 percent who cared most about social issues and an increase of 24 percentage points from 2004.

Local pastors say they aren't surprised. They have church members who have lost their homes and their jobs.

"There are lots of people who don't have health insurance, who are just struggling for themselves and their kids," said the Rev. Rich Nathan, pastor of Vineyard Church of Columbus.

The Bliss Institute conducts the survey every four years, just before the presidential election. Researchers surveyed 4,000 people between June and August.

The research also found that for all the work Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain have done courting religious voters, especially those who don't typically support them, they haven't changed many minds.

The study found that most traditional evangelicals -- those who have the most traditional beliefs and practices -- are leaning toward the Republican McCain. Some other groups, including black Protestants and Latino Catholics, still swayed toward the Democratic candidate and favored Obama.

When all religious groups, as well as atheists, are combined, Obama leads McCain by just 4.5 percent, and 20.8 percent were still undecided.